Households across London and south east England have been told to use as little water as possible - after extreme weather caused burst pipes.

Thames Water said around 12,000 homes were left with no running water following the recent deep freeze and thaw, while several water companies said they were also tackling multiple bursts on their networks.

Four companies - Thames Water, South East Water, Southern Water and Affinity Water - urged customers who do have running water only to use it where essential.

In a joint statement, they said: "Where possible, take short showers rather than baths, do not leave taps running unnecessarily and only run washing machines and dish washers when you have a full load.

"This will make a real difference."

Water supplies cut

Companies handed out bottled water to affected customers over the weekend - while one school in Streatham, south London, said it would not open on Monday due to a lack of water on site.

A tweet from the Dunraven School said: "We'd hoped things would have been resolved by now. No water on either site means we can't open the school. We will update families when we can."

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On the rail network, there are warnings of disruption to Arriva Trains Wales, cancellations on some Great Yarmouth to Norwich services run by Greater Anglia, as well as early morning Glasgow Central to London Euston services on Virgin Trains.

Temperatures rose above freezing over the weekend after the Beast from the East and Storm Emma brought a deep cold snap during last week which saw the first day of meteorological spring.

The mercury is predicted to hit 11C (52F) in London on Monday but weather warnings for snow and ice are still in place for parts of north England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

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While Met Eireann has yellow and orange alerts in place for snow and ice which run until midday on Monday.

Forecaster Mark Wilson said: "There will be a noticeable change in the weather, it will be less cold and there will be less snow and ice.

"We are now going to see slightly less cold and milder weather, by Monday afternoon the temperature could be in double figures.

"There is a snow and ice warning for most of Scotland, through the day the snow will be restricted to the higher ground."

He added: "We can get these quite abrupt change in temperatures because of a change in wind direction.

"From Monday there will be a more southerly flow with milder conditions."

Here is what the water firms are saying:

Southern Water

Southern Water said customers may be experiencing loss of supply "that could be caused by the cold weather".

Just after 7am on Monday, the firm tweeted: "We are still working hard to restore water supplies to around 5000 customers around Sittingbourne in Kent. Please help us to help you by only using the water you absolutely must. Thank you for your patience."

Thames Water

Thames Water opened a number of bottled water stations in north and south London after about 12,000 households were left without running water in the capital. Suppliers across the country reported a high volume of calls and asked customers to be patient while repairs are carried out.

Crews worked through the night to repair pipes, but warned that it could still be some time for water to return to all customers.

The South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust asked Thames Water on Twitter for 500 bottles of water for patients at the Springfield Hospital site at 8.50pm.

Weather conditions have also caused a drained reservoir in Hampstead which supplies much of north London.

Dunraven School in Streatham said they would be forced to close on Monday because of the lack of water supply.

The Thames Water helpline was unavailable and their Twitter feed was inundated with enquiries when water will be back on.

South East Water

South East Water set up bottled water stations and planned to deliver more bottles Monday morning, as customers in Ashford, Lenham, Rotherfield, Wadhurst and Crowborough were still without service.

They added they are doing "everything we can to fix the issue as quickly as possible" which has some people with no water since breakfast time yesterday.

Some residents have taken desperate measures in their homes, with one reporting they were flushing their loo with buckets of snow.

Dr Simon Earl, Operations Director, South East Water, said: “We are asking people to look in their attics, airing cupboards, under their sinks and to check the taps out in their gardens to see if they have got any unnoticed leaks which could be a trickle at the moment but later will cause major damage.

"If leaks are detected, they should turn off their water supply at the stop tap and call a plumber.

“This is the same message for businesses and owners of unoccupied premises as if there is a leak it could cause continued damage to their property as well as wasting these valuable water supplies.

“I would like to apologise to customers who are without water or have low pressure and reassure them that we are working around the clock to resolve these issues although at this stage we are not able to say when supplies will be back to normal.”

Anglian Water

Anglian Water warned of "extended waiting times" and added: "The weather has also affected our ability to get field teams out to jobs in certain parts of our region."

Welsh Water

On Monday morning, customers in the Tonypandy area had low pressure or no water.

A spokesman for Welsh Water said earlier: "Due to the thaw, we're expecting some disruption to our services over the next few days.

"We are working as quickly as is safely possible to resolve issues as they occur."

The company also asked to make sure no taps were left running and for businesses to check their premises for any leaks.

United Utilities

United Utilities, which serves the north west, told customers it was dealing with a "high volume" of calls from people who have no water, low pressure or frozen water pipes.

It added: "As temperatures begin to climb following the cold snap, we are dealing with a number of issues due to the freeze and then thaw which may be affecting supplies in your area."

Customers in the Stockport area were told Monday morning their taps should be flowing normally again.

Wessex Water

Wessex Water said "some customers" are experiencing leaks and that it has had more calls than normal.

Yorkshire Water

Yorkshire has also been affected, with "very challenging conditions" due to a number of burst pipes.

Yorkshire Water said: "As the weather warms up, frozen pipes thaw which causes them to contract and sometimes break.

"When the ice melts away the holes in those pipes will be exposed, causing a leak and, in extreme circumstances, flooding."

South West Water

South West Water said crews were out all night trying to find a number of leaks affecting customers, and a number of areas still had no water Monday morning.

As a result of the disruption, Exwick Heights Primary School in Exeter, Devon, would remain closed until at least lunch time.

It offered the following advice: "Customers can help themselves and us by identifying whether the problem is inside their house or not.

"If the leak or burst is on their own pipes, the best thing to do is to call a plumber.

"However if you and your neighbours are out of water or losing pressure, that could be a sign of a burst or leaking mains pipe and we need to hear about it to start helping you."

Scottish Water

Homes in Scotland were affected, with ongoing bad weather slowing down repair works.

Scottish Water said: "Weather and road conditions have presented challenges in maintaining our usual response services and we apologise if you've experienced a delay in us getting to you.

"A yellow warning is currently in place and both weather and driving conditions remain challenging."

Northern Ireland Water

Water supply was also restricted in Northern Ireland due to "increased demand".

It said at the weekend: "Our teams have been working throughout the night in freezing conditions and will work over the weekend to ensure customers continue to have a water supply.

"Please be extra vigilant, check buildings that may be closed over a number of days. In particular, farmers, schools and landlords, please check your sites to ensure there are no bursts on the property."

Irish Water

Irish Water said some areas "will need to have water restrictions put in place to allow reservoir levels to restore". "We are asking the public to conserve water to help this to happen," it added.